Prudent policies steer economy towards growth: Hammad Azhar

Lahore : Minister of State for Revenue for Hammad Azhar Wednesday said that all economic indicators were positive, indicating that Pakistan would soon achieve its agenda of economic growth.

In the first 200 days of the government, the economic
situation was getting stable, the minister said while addressing a press conference here.  He said “owing to prudent economic policies of the government, we will achieve growth”.

He said during the PML –N regime, the country’s economic situation was not  good  as the foreign reserve was depleting by $1 billion per month while there was huge trade deficit.

He said the incumbent government of Pakistan Tehreek –e- Insaf (PTI) had initiated economic reforms in all sectors, which had positively impacted the national economy. As indicated by trade data,
the minister added, during the 200 days, imports decreased by 15 percent,  the current account deficit (CAD) was also on declining path while remittances also increased by 12 percent in last seven month of
current fiscal year. He said that State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) reserves were recorded at the lowest  during past five years of PML (N)  whereas other sectors of economy were also not in good position.
He expressed the hope that because of economic reforms, Pakistan’s exports would touched $ 26 billion at the end of current fiscal year, which would be historical.

Hammad said that now SBP reserve were going up are
expected to reach to $ 12 billion at the end of current fiscal year.

The minister for state said the government had presented Rs 92 billion supplementary bills in October 2018 to remove heavy taxes from low income groups in the society. He said that with the consultation of all chambers “we waved the taxes from different
businesses and industries for rapid economic growth.”

He informed the government had withdrawn 20 percent duties on agriculture and Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) to support growth in this sector. He said that Prime Minister, Imran Khan’s visits to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and China were successful, which helped in boosting the country’s economy.

On FBR reforms, the minister said the government was committed to bring about reforms in FBR, adding administrative and tax reforms were underway.

He informed that Prime Minister Imran Khan had formed the committee to reform in FBR and warned that strict action would be taken against the culprits. He said that the government, through these reforms, wanted to separate the administrative issues from policy for the smooth functioning of the institution.

Replying to a question, he said that negations with
International Monetary Fund (IMF) were going in positive way. He said that Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had appreciated Pakistan’s steps for global financial transparency and curtailing of the
money-laundering.